from overhead

Annoyingly, most of the video footage we took is too long (large) to upload onto blogger and I don't have the software to edit it down.  So here are a selection of arial photos that show most of what we saw.

from the west, the dots are fruit trees that I planted in November, including some within the huge bramble
patch, the paths really stand out.  Over the road, the new drive, veggie plot with raised beds to the right of the drive.
Huge oak tree still with bronze leaf cover and the village of Vieuzos off to the left in the distance.

from the east

from the south east

right overhead, that's Me and Tom on the left by the chalet, my new wooden panel pathway and a
big store of lovely clay under the tarp.

there you/we are

warmed by godin

It doesn't look much different from the last picture I posted about a month ago.  though now, it works.  All the parts for the chimney have been sourced, ordered, delivered and fitted.  I fired her up and she burns like a dream, keeping me hot and toasty for the sake of three or four logs an evening.  THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH Brigitte.  

The flue passes out through the wall directly behind the stove before rising to above roof level outside.  I thought it would be easier this way to make/keep the chalet watertight.  The home made double lined flue is insulated with perlite which is held in place with steel wool at each end of the second tube.  The flexible outer tube starts before the insulating boards inside and extends some 15cm past the wall on the outside of the chalet.  It also has a light steel wool stopper at one end to keep vermin and the worst of the draughts out whilst allowing much needed air flow close to the stove.

wood burning stove instillation

Next task, to install the wood burning stove.  I’ve had it for ages and not been particularly concerned, it being a Godin, one of the most popular makes in france, about getting fittings to install it in my home.  How wrong was I?  Very.  I spent most of Monday visiting a variety of fireplace and DIY stores on the way home, to no avail.  I spent the evening beginning to prepare for the instillation and the following day started in the local scrap metal dealers.  Metal plate was easy, bought by the kilo (50 centimes a kg) then back to the quest for chimney pipe.  The stove is old and the new regulations have increased pipe sizes dramatically, no one has the appropriate bits and I go from shop to shop, waiting an eternity each time, it’s the first really cold day of autumn (everyone and his dog wants a fire installed and now) just to be told the same story.  By chance an engineer in one shop decided to try and help those waiting, he told me to try the Godin showrooms out of town.

The Godin showroom, joy at last, the kind lady knew exactly what I wanted and corrected my measurements by a millimeter or two to be precise.  The catalogue showed they were still made and she would order them with some other parts later in the week.  Result, although patience will be needed as the delivery won’t arrive till later in the month.  Good job I’ve got my thermals and I can sleep easy knowing that the problem can be solved.  I shan’t make the hole in the wall just yet, but wait till I know all can be done at once.  By now it was five in the evening, just time to drive home, catch my breath and pop to the neighbours for dinner.

bricks to support the metal plate where the wood stove will stand with battens on the
wall for the rock wool insulation panel

metal plate in situ.  (it has two more bricks underneath now to take the
weight of the stove)

first panel of wall insulation in place.  It'll need a hole cutting through when I have exactly the
right dimensions for the chimney pipe.

second metal plate to deflect heat and protect the wood store from  too much radiant heat

stove in position.
Now all I need is the flue pipes and I can heat the chalet

Slightly groggy start to Wednesday but that soon went when I started digging.  Tidied the weeds from the paths between the new vegetable beds then headed into Lannemezan, market day, to pick up provisions, made the most of the trip by gathering most of what I need for the water pipe work.  It’s too risky leaving buying things till the last minute, plus it’s easier to mentally check that everything has been thought about once the bits begin to gather.  Lunch with Pierre in a busy little bar by the market, everybody crowded inside  protecting themselves from the wintery weather, noise and activity filling the tiny dining area.

my temporary home

kitchen, dining corner 

library, planning and tool area

double doors with tools accessible from outside.
(keeps the floor cleaner) 

sunset from the kitchen window

getting more and more organised 

evening light

winter squash and nuts drying 

chalet/shed construction

tyre pillars and weed suppressant ready construction

my foundation platform nearing completion

creating a more comfortable toilet seat!!

getting things organised

lots of wood, no instructions

up it goes

right to the roof

discussing progress

me (with the hat on) and my bro

The cabin, chalet, shed, whatever it’s going to be called, progressed at an astounding rate.  We constructed my foundations then started on the huge parcels of wood that had been delivered.  The instructions were scant to say the least so we guessed and tested as we went.  Thankfully the engineering was brilliant.  The vast majority of parts fitted together without forcing, snugly and without difficulty, the planks were well finished and the walls went up like a dream.  We guessed with the door and window instillation, leaving me with a bit of post construction snagging, especially on the additional window opening for which there were no instructions whatsoever, but overall it was a great experience.  

foundations

My brothers arrival was imminent and he was due to help erect a wooden cabin that I had ordered before my departure to England.  I was ill prepared on my arrival back, though had taken the time, en route, to order wood, gravel and cement in order to construct the foundations.

To minimise expenditure and environmental impact I decided to support a wooden subframe on several concrete filled tyres as a foundation for my build.  I obtained used tyres, for free, at a local garage, and filled them with a mixture of large stones gathered on site and a hand mixed concrete.  The wooden frame would sit on top and match the footprint of the building on order.  I had dimensions and a plan, but it was all a bit of a guess.

Additionally I decided to dig some drainage channels under the site as it was rather boggy, even in mid summer, to minimise the dampness during the winter and hopefully keep the chalet as dry as possible.   I reused some of the broken roof tiles in the drainage channels and they cost nothing apart from a bit of muscle power to install.  A couple of additional pipes were added as drains for a possible shower and kitchen sink, but that is for the future.

The chalet duly arrived.  Two huge parcels wrapped on white polythene, measuring 5 plus metres in length and weighing just shy or 2000Kg.  I had been assured that delivery onto the site would be no problem, but one look at my driveway access and the truck driver decided that it was a definite NO!!  He left the huge packages on the side of the road and I braced myself for an arduous day of moving the whole lot by hand.  The access was too steep, not wide enough and totally inadequate for the 4x4 all terrain forklift that I had been promised by the guy in the sales office.  

Lady Luck was looking on, my neighbouring farmer passed me as I as surveying the delivery and promised to return with his tractor and forks the following morning to see if he could help.  He could, and within half an hour the the materials were in position, ready for construction when my brother arrived.

In the mean time I was hastily preparing for his arrival.  Peter, for those of you who don’t know my family, was due to arrive at Toulouse airport a couple of days later.  I had erected a tent and in one end installed his room complete with proper bed, bedside table and reading lamp (courtesy of a solar model from IKEA)  The rest of the tent became tool store, kitchen and dining area. (I really must take photos of this before it is disbanded.) and my life changed for the better overnight.  Percy became a tranquil retreat, comfortable, warm and cosy.  A place to relax and sleep after a hard day’s work without having to cope with cooking meals and dealing with wet and dirty clothes when the weather was inclement.  He was much happier and so was I.

delivery, not exactly where I had imagined........

I love my new neighbours

drainage under the foundations

pillar supports for the new chalet

all in place and ready to construct